Tennis-court marker



April 22, 1924. 1,491,625 K. L. PORTER ET AL TENNIS COURT MARKER Fil y11, 1922' 2 Sheets-Sheet; 1

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TENNIS COURT MARKER F l y 11. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR[(IL-PorZZ-r MJ-fira2 WI T/VE SSE 8 A TTOR/VEVS Patent Apr. 22, 192.

KENNETH LEGGETT PORTER, OF NEW RQCHELLE, AND MIGHAEL J. BRAZIL, OF NEWPORATION OF NEW YOF: it

TENNIS-COURT m 1..

Application filed May 11, 1922. Serial Ho. 560,302.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, KENNETH L. PORTER and MICHAEL J. BRAZIL, bothcitizens of the United States, and residents, respectively, of NewRochelle, in the county of Westchestor and State of New York, and of thecity of New York, Elmhurst Hilltop, borough of Queens, in the county ofQueens and State of New York, have invented a new and imzn'ovedTennis-Court Marker, of which the ioliowing is a fuil, clear, and exactdescrip- 1011.

The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in markersand it pertains particularly to markers for tennis courts or other flatsurfaces.

it is one or" the objects of the invention to provide a new and improvedmarker which is adapted for use in marking either hard grass tenniscourts.

It is a further object of the invention to rovlde a marker in which oneof the wheeis orn;.s the marking element when used for marking grasscourts.

It is a further object of the invention to p-ovide new and improvedmeans for supplying the marking fluid to the marking wheel.

it is a further object of the invention to provide a new and improvedmechanism for marking grass courts.

it is a still further object of the invention to provide new andimproved means for supplyin the marking iiuid to the means employs inmarking hard courts.

With the above and other objects in view, reference is had to theaccompanying drawin s, in whichigure 1 is a View in side elevation of atennis court marker constructed in accordance with the present inventionand equipped for the purpose of'marking hard surfaces;

Fig. 2 is a detail plan view of the marking mechanism used when markinghard surfaces;

'Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the marking mec ianism forhard surfaces;

Fig. 4 is a top lan view of the mechanism equipped as s own in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 1s a detailed view in elevation of the mechanism employed formarking grass courts or other similar surfaces;

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of a portion of the mechanism illustrated inFig. 5.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the reference character 10designates a frame and said frame consists of side members 11, theforward ends of which are bent to angular shape as indicated by thereference character 12, and carried by the side members 11 is a platform13.

The reference character 14 designates a. shaft or axle secured to theframe in an suitable manner, and mounted on said sha t or ax e 14 arewheels 15. Secured to one of the wheeis 15 is a gear 16, and said canmeshes with a gear 17. This gear 1 is mounted on one of the side wallsof a tank 18 and meshes with a gear 19 carried by a shaft 20, whichextends through the tank, as more clearly shown in Fig. 4. Mounted uponthe shaft 20 and within the tank 18, is a wheel 21, the purpose of whichwill be hereinafter described.

Mounted in the front end of the angular portions 12 of the side members11, is a. wheel 22, and said wheel 22 forms the su port for the forwardend of the device. s more clearly shown in Fig. 1, this front wheel 22is mounted in members 23, which are secured as shown, to'the angularportions 12 of the side members 11.

Secured to the latform 13 are brackets 24, and mounted in said brackets24- is a substantialiy U-shaped member 25. One leg of the U-shapedmember 25 is extended as at 26, and pivotally connected thereto as at27, is an operating rod 28, the opposite end of which passes through aguide block 29 carried by a cross bar 30 of the handle 31. A suitableset screw 32 is employed to main= tain the operating rod 28 in adjustedposition.

Rigidity secured to the forward top edge of the tank 18 is atroughmember 32', and

ivotally secured thereto is a scraping memr 33, the rear edge of whichengages the peripheral face of the wheel 21 heretofore mentioned. Thismember 33 is pivotally connected as at 34 to the member 32 and connectedadjacent the rear end of the member 33 is a yoke 35. Extending forwardlyfrom the yoke 35, is a bar 36, and said bar is ri 'diy connected as at37 to the U-shaped mom or 25. By this construction it is apor "new roan,n. Y., a conatm parent that as the operating rod 28 is reciprocated, thetrough-shaped scraper 33 will be moved into or out of contact with theperipheral edge of the wheel 21, depending upon the directionin whichthe operrod 28 is moved.

Pivotally connected as at 33 to the trough-like member 32 is r asubstantially funnel-sha ed member 39, and leading from said funne-shaped member 39 is a substantiall right-angular pipe 40. The lower endof t is pipe 40 is provided with a hood 41 adapted to surround the endof said pipe, said end being reduced as indicated by the referencecharacter 42. The reference character 43 designates two brushes carriedby this hood member 41 and secured therein by means of set screws 44 orthe like. These two brushes are so positioned that the reduced end 42 ofthe pipe discharges between the brushes 43.

The mechanism as described is adapted for use in marking hard surfaces,and in operation the tank 18 is filled with suitable-marking fluid. Asthe device is pushed along the ground, the wheel 21 rotating through themarking fluid picks up the same and the trough-shaped scraping element33 removes the marking liquid from the periphery of the wheel 21. Fromthis member 33 the marking fluid passes through the trough 32 into thefunnel-shaped member 39 and through the pipe 40 to the hood 41 and thebrushes 43, by means of which it is deposited on the surface to bemarked.

In that form of the invention used for marking grass courts thetrough-like member is pivotally connected as at 51 to the trou h-likemember 32, and said trough-like mem er 50 has its forward end 52 restingupon the top of the wheel 22, it being understood that in this form ofthe invention the periphery of the Wheel 22 is grooved, as indicated bythe reference character 53. In this embodiment of the invention themarkin fluid is picked up by the wheel 21 and is elivered to thetrough-iike members 33, 32 and 50 and is deposited upon the peri hery ofthe wheel 22 to be transferred to t e surface to be marked by the wheel.

nearest When the marking operation has been completed, it is onlynecessary to operate the bar 28 to lift the trough-like member '33 to apoint where it disengagesthe eri himproved means whereby the markingoperation may be controlled by the operator.

What is claimed is:

1. A surface marking device comprising a tank, means for supporting saidtank in a manner to permit-of its being rolled along the surface to bemarked, awheel mounted in said tank, a marking mechanism, and means forengagement with the periphery of the Wheel in the tank for collectingmarking fluid therefrom and delivering the same te the markingmechanism, said means comprising a stationary trough member and a ingedtrough member hingedly connected to said stationary trough member.

2. A surface marking device comprising a tank, means for supporting saidtank in a manner to permit of its being rolled along the surface to bemarked, a wheel revolubly mounted in said tank, a marking mechanism,means for engagement with the periphery of the wheel in the tank forcolecting marking fluid therefrom and delivering the same to the markingmechanism, said means comprising a stationary trough member and a hingedtrough member hingedly connected to said stationary trough member, andmeans for moving the hinged trough member about its hinged point andinto and out of engagement with the wheel in said tank.

KENNETH LEGGETT PORTER. MIHAEL J. BRAZIL.

